Every ER physician has a mental list of his preferred cases. Near the bottom of everyone's lists are cases that involve nausea and vomiting. While I share that sentiment, I had one such case that I found quite interesting.

Kirsten was a 23-year-old prostitute and amateur pharmacologist. Between episodes of upchucking, she told me that she wanted to retire by age 30 with at least five million dollars. That might seem to be a lofty aspiration for a prostitute, but she was not your run-of-the-mill woman of the night. Thanks to a daily handful of estrogen tablets, she had more estrogen circulating in her bloodstream than any woman in history—why I referred to her as an “amateur pharmacologist”. You are probably wondering why she took so much estrogen. That thought crossed my mind, too.

Dr. Pezzi: How much estrogen do you take every day?

Kirsten: It varies. I don't keep track, but I have to get it from several different pharmacies. Otherwise, the pharmacist would be suspicious, I'm sure.

Dr. Pezzi: Why do you take so much?

Kirsten: To make more money.

Dr. Pezzi: How so?

Kirsten: It makes my vagina more luscious. That's what the johns really like, and they're willing to pay top dollar to get it. The johns say that they've never had anything like it before. Once they have me, they're hooked. You know what estrogen does to a vagina, don't you?

Dr. Pezzi: Yes. It makes it thicker and softer.

Kirsten: So, I figured if estrogen would make it thicker and softer, a lot of estrogen would make it a lot better. It works, too. Almost every guy who screws me wants to marry me. They give me all this, “Oh, honey, I love you so much!” bullshit. They don't love me, they love it.

Dr. Pezzi: Aren't you bothered by the nausea?

Kirsten: Not much. I only get it when I take a lot more than I'm used to. I think I really outdid myself this time, though. I took more than I ever have before.

Dr. Pezzi: Why did you do that?

Kirsten: To get ready for a john who has zillions of dollars. I'm going to hook him, and then keep raising my prices. He'll pay. They all do, at least until they run out of money. But this guy is so loaded he will never run out of money.

Dr. Pezzi: Aren't you concerned about the health risks of excessive estrogen?

Kirsten: It's crossed my mind, but it's a tradeoff. I don't have any marketable skills—except for this, of course! It's my only way to get rich. I'm willing to accept a small chance of dying to make a bundle of money. I grew up poor, and having no money is a bitch, let me tell you. A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do to get by in this world.

Dr. Pezzi: That's true, but why don't you just do what other women do?

Kirsten: Like get a regular job and get married?

Dr. Pezzi: Yes.

Kirsten: I wouldn't fit in with a regular job. It'd be a square peg in a round hole. And getting married is not for me. I don't want some possessive man telling me who I can screw and what I can do. (pause) Now that I've filled you in on the details of my life, how about a shot for this nausea?

Had I seen Kirsten when I was a virgin, I would have wondered what sensory delights her customers were paying for. My older brother told me that the pleasure he obtained from intercourse with some women was almost too intense to bear, yet intercourse with other partners gave him so little pleasure that sex was barely worth the effort. In fact, he would sometimes concoct excuses to not do it.

A decade after I first had intercourse, I still did not comprehend the variation my brother reported. I'd had a few girlfriends, and there didn't seem to be much difference in pleasure from one woman to another. Sex was pleasurable, but a huge disappointment compared with the pleasure that I once imagined it would provide. However, the second I entered a new girlfriend I realized that there was something about her vagina that was unique; I'd never before felt pleasure that was even remotely so intense. The first stroke felt better than an orgasm with other women, and with subsequent strokes the pleasure just got better and better. The orgasm was simply indescribable; never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined such mind-boggling pleasure. Yes, I knew there is some variation in the overall sensate characteristics of different vaginas, but I was stunned that such an astonishing difference could exist. It's like knowing that there are some performance differences between automobiles, and one day getting in a car that can fly to the moon.

The next day (I was too busy the remainder of that night to do much thinking), I wondered what could explain such off-the-scale pleasure. Yes, her vagina was tight, but certainly not the tightest. Other than being somewhat scanty and dry, her lubrication was not out of the ordinary. Her texture was nice, but again nothing extraordinary. So what was it?

Eventually I put two and two together and solved this mystery, which I explained in The Science of Sex. Incidentally, my new girlfriend did not take estrogen, so the stratospheric pleasure that her vagina gave was not attributable to supplemental estrogen, as Kirsten used.

Return to the story list

Cast away your preconceptions of sex books as being a rehash of things you already know and hence a waste of time. By reading this book, you will learn things that Dr. Ruth and other sexologists have never considered.

Reader comments:

Reader in California: “This book completely blows away any other sex book, by a country mile. To borrow an old European country saying: first comes this book, then there's a loooooong stretch where there's nothing . . . then there's a big pile of manure . . . then another long stretch of nothing . . . then every other book on the market. Well, it's funnier in German. J  Anyway, you can go to any bookstore, and replace the entire sex section with this book. No one can complain that you don't tell it like it is, and explain what to do about it. It's safe to say there won't be any other book out there to touch this one for interest level, straight talk, and practical advice. Congratulations!”

Scott in Seattle: “Dr. Pezzi, you spoiled my whole weekend! I bought the book on Thursday and then proceeded to get *nothing* done until I finished it many hours later on Sunday! The Science of Sex may have made me ineffective at getting my work done but it made me much more effective with my lover. It was filled with great information and real action items. I am very impressed and appreciative.”

A fellow MD: “. . . it is vastly superior to anything I have seen on the topic from a medical view.”

Reader in US: “I'm reading the book now . . . fascinating, and extremely well written. At 20 bucks, an incredible bargain!”

Reader in New York: “I am in the midst of reading The Science of Sex which I ordered from you a couple of weeks ago — VERY interesting and very useful stuff. Well done.”

Reader in Florida: “Dr. Pezzi, I absolutely love The Science of Sex & your website. I cannot put into words how much I appreciate and respect your knowledge and attention to detail.”

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